The Perfect Tree
by Mixer18
Summary: It's Christmas time for the members of Team 5D's. Everyone has a job to do this holiday season. But one special task is assigned to Akiza. What will it be?


_This story goes out to a special reader I came across here: akiakizaizayoi. Enjoy._

Snow was coming down at a steady pace in New Domino. Snowplows were clearing the streets for commuters. Individual citizens were shoveling their walkways and sidewalks. Storefronts were decorated for the holiday season and displaying various item at bargain prices too good to pass up. Amongst all the commotion, a young and magenta-haired woman in an overcoat of the same color navigated her way on foot to a certain destination.

"It sure is a sign of the season," she thought to herself as she shook some loose snowflakes from her hair. Just then, she heard an electronic melody of "Here Come the Bells" coming from her pocket. Being the holiday season as it was, the woman had selected that song as her ringtone on her cell phone until Christmas had passed.

"Hello?" she greeted whoever was calling.

"Hey Akiza, it's me," a familiar voice answered back. "You are on your way here, right?"

"Don't worry Yusei," the woman replied with a smile. "I'm not going to keep you and the group waiting. I just want to take my time getting to you. Just so I can see all the shopping commotion up close."

"Alright," he said. "Just watch your step. It's slippery out there." With that in mind, Akiza clicked her phone off and slipped it back into its resting place. 

Meanwhile, at Poppo Time, Yusei was watching the snow come down from inside the workshop he shared with Crow and Jack. A sound of crashing was heard down on the shop floor where all three Duel Runners were parked.

"Yusei, have you seen my helmet?" Crow pondered aloud as he rummaged through tools, parts, and other whatnot. "You know I can't go out there without it. It has to be here somewhere." He continued to search frantically, as if he had lost his contact lenses.

"Your helmet's right here," Yusei calmly said while pointing with his finger. "You just left it up here." He picked it up and tossed it down to his friend.

"Thanks man," the Blackwing duelist said as he caught his helmet and strapped it on his head. "I'll be back soon with our tree. Luna, if you can hear me, we're heading out!" As Crow donned some gloves, the green-haired female twin skipped down, dressed in a fluffy winter jacket and pink boots.

"I'm ready," she ringed cheerfully. Crow hopped onto his ride, brought it to life, and hoisted the small girl up behind him.

"We'll be back soon," he reminded Yusei as he revved out of the garage and onto the streets. 

As Akiza was getting closer to Yusei's workshop, she saw Crow and Luna zoom past her. That was a sign the two were going out to get a Christmas tree. This day had been set aside by the members of Team 5D's in preparation for Christmas. The tree was already obtained, Bruno was programming some Christmas lights to coincide with popular holiday music, Jack had wrangled Leo into making a whole bunch of eggnog, and Yusei and Akiza were going to decorate the tree. 

"Uh….Yusei, have you seen Jack?" Leo asked from behind a box stuffed to the brim with everything for eggnog. "This thing's really heavy." Yusei said nothing as he pointed to the staircase that led to the kitchen.

"LEO! Get yourself up here!" Atlas bellowed loud enough to shake the foundation. "Eggnog doesn't make itself, you know!" The male twin and the 5D's leader looked behind them to see Jack on the other side of the building, looming over them.

"Why is this so important to you?" the boy complained as he struggled to hold the box up.

"When a concoction, such as this, is created by the hands of the one and only Jack Atlas, all others pale in comparison to it," the former champion said with a slight arrogance in his voice. "Now get up here." Leo strained and grunted as he made the journey up the stairs.

"Every Christmas, it's always something different," Yusei said to no one in particular as he turned to wait for Akiza. 

Akiza made it to the Poppo Time building with no troubles. She stomped the snow off her boats and brushed the snowflakes off her overcoat. She knocked on the door, hoping someone would answer it.

"Hello there," Yusei greeted as he opened the door for her. "I trust you got here without any hassle?"

"Don't worry," Akiza assured him as Yusei pulled her overcoat off and left her boots next to the door. "I'm here in one piece and that's all that matters. Thank you for being concerned about me, though."

"Everything's going as planned," he explained to her. "Crow and Luna are getting the tree; Jack and Leo are handling the eggnog, and Bruno's working on the lights."

"And we're decorating the tree?" Akiza asked with a slight excitement in her voice. Yusei nodded "yes" as his answer. She squealed slight in excitement and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"I've never decorated a Christmas tree before," she said. "This is gonna be great." Yusei took her hand and gently led her down the ramp, like Cinderella, and onto the work floor. He took a small remote and pressed a button. From out of nowhere, the words and music for "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" began playing.

"Shall we dance 'til Crow and Luna return?" Yusei asked, holding out his hand as an invitation to dance.

Akiza smiled warmly as she took Yusei's hand and the two began some kind of waltz. They continued that for what seemed like forever. 

The sound of wheels running broke through the music. A few seconds later, Crow's runner drove inside with a tree attached to the back of it.

"We have found our tree, and at a bargain too," the Blackwing duelist said as he hoisted Luna off and onto the ground. "Credit this girl for pointing it to me." Luna just shrugged at Crow's compliment.

Yusei went to the opposite side of the runner and undid the straps holding it down. He took a pair of scissors and cut off the net that usually holds a tree together. He and Crow reached onto the trunk, lifted it off the motorcycle, and to a waiting stand to hold it up. The positioning was done well in advance; the tree was stationed right next to a work bench and next to another wall to prevent it from falling.

"Welp, I'll be outside to help Bruno with the lights and music thing," Crow said as he jogged outside through the front door.

"And I'll give Leo and Jack a hand with the eggnog stuff," Luna said as she removed her jacket and skipped up to the kitchen.  
"Well, let's get to work," Yusei said to Akiza as he moved boxes full of decorations closer to the tree. "Candy cane?" He held out a box of candy canes to her with one already in his mouth.

"Why, thank you," Akiza said astonished. She had never been offered a candy cane before, so she was glad the first one she got came from Yusei. 

She began opening the boxes to see what ornaments Yusei had. There was one full of baubles with all the colors of the rainbow. Another box had several figures with Christmas themes: a snowman, an enlarged snowflake, some reindeer, and others.

"You guys have some neat ornaments," Akiza said to Yusei. "And…what is it that you're doing?"

"I'm untangling the lights," Yusei wheezed as he untied various knots in the light strands. "If there's one thing I don't like about decorating, it's definitely untangling these lights." Akiza giggled lightly at Yusei's predicament.

"He's kind of cute trying to untangle those lights," she thought to herself as she began placing the ornaments on the tree. "For someone as skilled as he is in mechanics, he sure has a hard time with untangling lights." Akiza continued meticulously placing ornaments on the tree as Yusei finally came across the "master" knot in the lights. He gave it a couple of tries and the knot unfurled with the rest of the lights. Whenever tree lights are tangled, there's always a knot that holds it all together. Yusei began wrapping the lights around the tree while Akiza continued with the ornaments. 

"Looks as though we're done," Akiza said as she hung up the last bauble. She turned around to see Yusei holding a slightly battered box in his hands.

"Not exactly," he said softly with a wink. "A tree's not a tree without its topper." He pulled the top of the box with his free hand and pulled out a small doll-sized angel.

"It's beautiful," Akiza said in awe of its majestic appearance.

"Indeed," Yusei agreed. "When Crow, Jack, and I were at Martha's orphanage, the three of us dueled every year to see who gets to put the angel on top of the tree. More often than not, I always got to do it. This year…..I think you should put the angel on top." He held out the angel for Akiza. She was shocked and amazed at the honor Yusei had given her. She picked up the angel with both hands and extended her arms to the top of the tree.

"I can't reach," Akiza stated when she felt a strong pair of hands grab her waist and lift her up. "Now I can." She threaded the topmost branch through the two loops in the back of the angel to make it stay.

"Looks good to me," Yusei said as he brought Akiza back to the ground. He flipped a switch to turn the lights on. When the lights came on, the tree glowed in magnificence.

"Touched by a real angel," he said as he looked at Akiza. "Merry Christmas, Akiza."

"Merry Christmas, Yusei," she answered as she looked back at him. Their hands joined together and their lips came together in the same fashion while being bathed in the glow.

"Best Christmas ever," they said at the same time after separating their mouth to catch their breath before they went back for more.

_I wanted to write this story for akiakizaizayoi because I could tell she was special. But that's not to say you all can't enjoy this story as well. Which one is better: this one or Christmas Warmth? Let your voice be heard in your reviews. Of course, there's the option of liking them both. Merry Christmas._


End file.
